


Mermaid Prince

by LavenderMintRose



Category: MARGINAL#4
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Royalty, M/M, MerMay, Mermaids, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-30
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2020-02-10 09:27:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18657643
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LavenderMintRose/pseuds/LavenderMintRose
Summary: Rui, a prince of the mermaid kingdom, is kidnapped by pirates - but Atom isn't really a pirate, is he? And why has Prince Shy mysteriously left his kingdom, one of the few human groups trying to build closer relations with the magical kingdoms?





	Mermaid Prince

Rui could tell he was in a barrel, and that the barrel was on a ship. That was about it. Oh, and that his wrists were tied together. 

He tried blinking. Alright, he wasn’t blindfolded, he discerned. It was just incredibly dark.   
Judging by the cold air, it was probably night. His shoulders shook. Air made him itch. The water only came up to the middle of his chest. The barrel was small, and his tail was getting cramped.    
    Occasionally, he could hear the sound of people walking past. There seemed to be a corridor to his right. The ship’s crew seemed disorderly.   
     Rui sighed.  
    They were likely pirates.   
     On one hand, pirates meant chaos. There would be new faces coming and going often, and sudden, chaotic stops. Plenty of chances to escape. On the other hand, he’d have to act fast. Compared to navy or merchants, pirates were far more likely to know all of the tricks mermaids hide in their fins.      
    “Oi!” A new voice in the corridor shouted. A you g voice. Rui heard the crew members mutter a name. … Atom? Rui thought. Odd name for a pirate.  
     "What’re you getting at there? Back to work!”   
    “Aye, sir!”  
    “Sir?” Rui considered. Maybe this Atom was the captain, coming to deal with him.   
    A door opened, and a figure entered, carrying a lantern. Rui held back the urge to laugh.   
    This Atom wasn’t so much a pirate as a mere boy, dressed up as one. First of all, he was far too clean to be a pirate. There was no wear at all in his hat or his coat, with its pristine white fur trim - clearly just as superficial as the gold lace on his collar. On top of that, he’d clearly spent a long time doing his bright red hair recently.  
    But what caught Rui’s eye the most was his necklace. Between his chain of beads and gold medallions, he wore a golden key on a simple cord. The key had two round stones in it, one large and bright green, the other, small and red. Rui watched the lights flicker in them. If he had any idea what that really is, he wouldn’t be wearing it so casually like that. Rui grinned internally. This escape would be easy.   
    Outwardly, he feigned fear. He brought his bound wrists to his face, as if trying to shield himself.   
    “Easy,”Atom said “I’m not gonna hurt you.”   
    Oh, you couldn’t if you tried.  
    “W-who are you?” Rui pretended to tremble. “Where am I?”  
    Atom grinned. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” He stepped closer, towering over the barrel. “Here’s what’s gonna happen. I need some magic from you.” He leaned in closer, exaggerating his words for dramatic effect. “Give me what I want, and I’ll let you go.” He lowered his voice. “And… if you don’t…” he trailed off, with a faux-threatening grin.   
    Rui didn’t respond. Ah, the old "capture a magical being for a spell" trick. It was what he expected - humans lacked originality. The hammy theatrical flourishes, no doubt copied from some cheesy plays, at least made it entertaining. 

Rui could play this any of several ways - depending on what sort of magic he was being asked to deliver, of course.   
    He could be nice and give the boy a spell. It wouldn’t do much to punish him, but from one look, Rui could tell Atom wouldn’t last long on these seas. The truth was that, if anything, teaching him to expect to be able to trust strangers would only hasten his demise.   
    Maybe, Rui thought, I’ll keep an eye on this ship, and when his crew makes him walk the plank, I’ll rescue him and take him as my prisoner. Turning the tables could be fun.   
    Another option, Rui thought, would be to give him a dud of a spell. If he went out of his way to kidnap someone to do it for him, he probably wouldn’t be able to tell it was a dud, and by the time he did, Rui would be far away.   
    Or, the simple option: he could just run.   
    The pirate boy continued, and Rui listened. “It should be easy, for a magical being like you. I’m just trying to find someone.”  
    “Who?” Rui asked, not missing a beat, still expressionless. “And where do you think they went?”  
    Rui’s direct question surprised Atom. He shrunk back a bit. “I-I dunno where he went,” he said, bringing his hand to the back of his neck.  
    “Then I can’t help you,” Rui said. “Let me go.”  
    “No, wait!” Atom said. Rui’s direct refusal had startled him, and his panic was showing Rui that the mermaid had the upper hand. “I know he’s over the sea somewhere. So he must be…” he waved his hand in the direction the ship was sailing. “..,sorta in this direction—”  
    “That’s too vague,” Rui cut in. “I can’t help you, so let me go.”  
    “Hey!” Atom shouted. “I’m the one who’s got you tied up in a barrel.” He paused, realizing what he’s said, and grinned, as if he’d forgotten and then remembered.   
Rui’s face still remained deadpan. It was still clear who was in control here. Ropes and barrels, clearly, were not the decisive element.  
    Yet Atom still grinned. “You’ve been captured by pirates. Aren’t you scared?”  
    “No,” Rui remained calm. He delivered the kicker with a smirk. “Because you’re not really a pirate.”  
    There was silence for a moment.   
    Atom blinked, then spoke, looking around the room. “Ahahaha - w-what makes you say—”  
    “You’re a terrible liar,” Rui said, deadpan again.   
    Atom didn’t react. There was no denying that Rui had the upper hand now. “To start, that necklace of yours.”  
     Despite having several necklaces, Atom immediately grabbed the gold and green key. “What do you know about this?”   
    “Oh, so you do know its value,” Rui said.   
    “Only… only that it’s magic.” Atom looked down.   
    This was a surprise. How would he know that?  
    Rui was curious now - curious enough that he found himself doing something he never imagined he would do.   
    “Who are you really?” He asked. “How did you get that? And why are you out here playing pirate?”  
    And something even more unexpected - he got an answer.   
    “I’m a wizard.” Atom answered with pride.   
    “A wizard?”  
    “Yeah,” Atom said. “Or, a student, anyway. In the royal court! We studied with the prince himself.” He seemed proud of it. “But… some weird stuff’s been goin’ on, and we didn’t know what to do. So decided to go looking for him. The prince, I mean. But that’s the thing, all we know is that he went off training with the prince from the kingdom up the coast. We don’t know where they went, so…”     
    “So that’s who you’re looking for?” Rui asked.  
    “Yeah,” Atom said.  
    “And is Atom your real name?”    
    Atom was shocked. “How did you know that?”     
    Rui laughed. “Your crew members said it in the hall when you told them to get back to work.” He leaned on the edge of the barrel. “What are they, random pirates you picked up by the harbor?”   
    “Y-yeah… how’d you know that?”   
    Rui didn’t answer. He believed Atom’s story, if only because the boy had shown himself to be incapable of lying.   
    But he considered.  
    “How well do you know these waters?” He asked. Atom looked startled by the question.  
    “Well, uh… we got a few maps…”  
    “But do you have any experienced sailors besides those crew?” Rui asked. “And how many are they? How many are you? I know you’re not alone - you said ‘we’ before.”  
    “Yeah,” Atom said. “Me and two friends. The crew is also three.”   
    “And your friends are also wizards,” Rui said. Atom nodded.   
    Rui paused for a moment, to consider, but he had already made up his mind. To Atom’s surprise, he pulled his wrists apart - he had broken through the binding ages ago. He held the edge of the barrel. “Stand back,” he told Atom.  
    Before Atom could respond, the moment came - Rui used the motion of the ship to boost him, and threw his body forward, knocking the barrel on its side. Water poured over the floor, and Rui used his arms to pull himself out.   
    “Hey, what’re you-“ Atom said, frantically trying to do something, but he stopped when he noticed Rui’s scales fading into skin. After about a minute, Rui rolled onto his back, and stretched his legs, kicking around.   
    Atom blinked. Rui leaned back on his hands and tilted his head. “You didn’t know mermaids could change into human form?” He asked. “What kind of wizard are you?”     
    “J-just a student! I said that already.”  
    “Of course,” Rui said. “So, clothes.”  
    Atom blinked. “Clothes?”  
    “Unless you want me to stay nude,” Rui said, matter-of-factly.   
    Atom still didn’t seem to get it.   
    “I’m joining you,” Rui said. “Trust me, you’ll need me.”   
    Atom blinked for a second, as it sank in. Then, he grinned - a big, sweet, childlike smile. Adorable, Rui thought. Oh gods, why did he have to be cute?  
    “Freaking awesome!” Atom shouted. Rui blinked, surprised by the sudden shift in volume. “We’re gonna learn so much awesome magic from you! A real merman - you’re like made of magic! This is so badass!” He was practically jumping around with excitement, just like a puppy.  
    Rui laughed softly as he stood up. “And I’m… fairly good at it, too.”  
    Atom might have spilled his entire story out to a stranger, but Rui wasn’t about to do the same.   
    As if he could tell what Rui was thinking, Atom suddenly blinked, and brough himself down from his fervor as quickly as he had started it. “Hey, dude, are you like… okay with this?” He asked. “Really? I mean… we did sorta kidnap you and stuff.”   
    Rui smiled. “I’m fine.”  
    “You sure? You don’t have, like, responsibilities in mermaid world?”  
    Mermaid world? Rui laughed. “No, to tell the truth it… can be rather stuffy sometimes,” he said. “Some time away would be nice. And I’d love to see more of the human world.”  
    Atom grinned again, throwing his arm around Rui, not caring that the latter was still naked. “I’ll be glad to show you around!” He started to pull Rui out of the room.  
    “Wait - clothes?” Rui asked.   
    “Oh, right!” Atom said. On his way out, he paused. “I never really heard anyone call mermaids stuffy before.” He left, considering it.  
    Rui smiled to himself. He wouldn’t tell Atom any more for now. It was true, life for ordinary mermaids was anything but stuffy. But for a prince, and one well known to be extremely gifted in magical aptitude, it wasn’t so carefree.   
    Rui wondered what the human princes were like. He had heard rumors about them - two close friends who had studied together. One supposedly had an incredible level of magical skill, for a human, at least. The other, not so much, though he excelled in athletics as much as his friend did in magic. They’d gained some notoriety for their adventures, and Rui had heard stories of them even in his kingdom beneath the ocean.  
    A short while later, dressed in the clothes Atom had brought him, Rui followed Atom to the deck of the ship. Atom’s two friends waited there.  
    “Huh, who’s this?” The green-haired one asked.   
    Atom made the introductions. “He’ll be joining us. Don’t worry, I already told him everything,” he said with that same huge, adorable grin.  
    R stared. “You told him…”  
    “…Everything?” L finished. “Well, that was smart.”      
    It wasn’t until he heard L’s sarcasm that it occurred to Atom that it might not have been.  
    Rui laughed. “Don’t worry, I won’t betray you,” he said. “This sounds fun.”  
    He fluffed his cravat, and marveled a bit at how nice these clothes were. It was clear this group had only been out here for a day or two. Even in that dark room, Rui could tell that Atom’s clothes weren’t very pirate-like in quality, no matter how he’d tried to style them. But wearing some of the same style himself, he realized these really were clothes from a royal palace. He smiled at the three boys, who were currently engaged in squabbling adorably over some sort of breakfast food. They seemed like a fun group.  
    “So,” Rui said with a smile, “What in the world were you thinking, trying to kidnap a mermaid? You know, if I weren’t so nice, I might have been inclined to sink your ship.”  
    They froze, mid-grab.  
    “………… seriously?"

**Author's Note:**

> ... started this for MerMay 2017, finally finishing it now.


End file.
